the college of new jersey department of special education, language and literacy

The College of New JerseyDepartment of Special Education, Language and Literacy

ESLM 58701 CURRICULUM, METHODS, & ASSESSMENT

FOR ESL/BILINGUAL EDUCATION

Spring, 2011

Historical Overview

Development of SLA theories Curriculum Framework

Curriculum Development Process Different Language Learning Programs

Elements of Language CurriculumLanguage Teaching Methodologies

Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol

OVERVIEW OF LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

Curriculum Development

• What knowledge/skills students must learn

• What activities should be included to help students learn

• How should teaching/learning be planned, measured, and evaluated

Why do we need a curriculum?

When did people start to use curricula?

What are the curriculum theories and practice?

Who usually controls the curriculum?

What are the functions of a curriculum?

What are the current issues in curriculum?

What is a language curriculum?

What is an ESL/Bilingual Curriculum?

How to develop a curriculum based on SIOP?

BASIC QUESTIONS FOR LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

CURRICULUM PIONEERS

Franklin Bobbits

• The Curriculum (1918) was considered the first curriculum textbook

• Educational Goal: in the interests of efficiency and eliminating waste. Apply industry standard to school curriculum.

• Theory: scientific management to productivity in industry

• Curriculum design: developed prior to instruction/imposed

• Scope and sequences: come from what successful adults know and can do

• Children’s role: neglected

• Teacher’s role: a manager

• School: an agent of social reproduction. Schooling matches the existing social norm and economic order.

CURRICULUM PIONEERS

John Dewey

• My Pedagogical Creed (1929); Lab School in Chicago

• Educational Goal: the growth of experience of the individual.

• Theory: coordination of psychological and social factors in education

• Curriculum design: an outcome of the interaction among students, materials, and teacher/jointly planned

• Scope and sequences: gradual differentiation of unity of social life

• Children’s role: start on the experience of the children

• Teacher’s role: a guide

• School: an integral part of community life, an instrument for social reform.

CONTEMPORARY VIEW

• Educational Goal:

• Theory:

• Curriculum design:

• Scope and sequences:

• Children’s role:

• Teacher’s role:

• School:

Approaches to Curriculum Design

• Humanism

• Reconstructionism

• Progressivism

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF CURRICULUM

1. Classical Humanism In Curriculum Design

Focus on: the knowledge about language

Method: grammar translation approach, teacher/instruction centered

Grammar Translation Method19th Century

• Focused on translating texts from one language to another

• Emphasis on reading and writing

• Works with classical languages such as Latin but does not support modern initiatives in language instruction


2. Reconstructionism In Curriculum Design

Focus on: practical aspects of education and promote ability to communicate

Purposes: offer social changes through education, bring equal value of all citizens, promote intra/international understanding through effective communication

Method: function-notion approach

Structure: diagnoses of needs--formulation of objectives--selection of contents--organization of content--selection of learning experiences--organization of learning experiences-- determination of what to evaluate & the ways of doing it.

Function-notion

• Transition between grammar translation and communicative methods

• Still had heavy focus on grammar

• Began addressing speech acts (the speech itself represents an action being accomplished e.g. I’m sorry)


3. Progressivism In Curriculum Design

Focus on: learning process-- Teachers are not instructors but creators of an environment in which learners learn & learn how to learn.

Purposes: develop an open, speculative view of knowledge, based on an understanding of the transient nature of our current structures.

Method: learner-centered approach

Structure: individual growth from where through interaction with a favorable environment learning through experience, a speculative view of knowledge, natural learning process and stages of development, sensitive to the interest, rhythm, and style of learning of individual learners, the social nature of the learner and the development of healthy relationship with others on the classroom community,

promoting learners' responsibility, and learning how to learn.

Clark, J. (1987) Curriculum Renewal in School Foreign Language Learning. Oxford UP.Table 1 Broad Outline of Value Systems

Classical humanism Reconstructionism Progressivism

Basic features of each value system in education

The promotion of generalizable intellectual capacities The maintenance and transmission of the knowledge, culture and, standards of one generation to another The creation of an elite of guardians

Social change through education planned to lead towards certain agreed goalsEgalitarian concern for the equal valuing of all citizensEmphasis on the practical relevance of the curriculum to the social goals of the nation

The development of the individual as a whole person The promotion of learner responsibility and of a capacity for learning how to learn

Curriculum Design

Classical humanismReconstructionism Progressivism

Syllabus Subject-centered Content-driven Content derived from an analysis of the subject matter into its constituent elements of knowledge. Sequencing of elements of knowledge from what was thought simple to what was thought complex

Goal-centered/Ends-means approachObjectives derived from an analysis of the objective behavioral needs of the learnerSequencing in terms of part-skills leading to global activities

Process approach Process-driven, therefore emphasis on methodology and principles of procedure Principles of procedure derived from a study of the learning process. Sequencing of a broad global sort in terms of tasks Learners impose own sequence on what is learnt.

Methodology Transmissive and teacher-directedConcerned to promote conscious understanding of rules behind surface phenomena, and control when reapplying them in new contexts

‘Good habit’ forming Practice of part-skillsRehearsal of behavioral goals

Learner-centered Experiential learning Promotion of learner responsibilityLearning how to learn

Basic strategy for coping with individual differences

Stream or set pupils into homogeneous classes in terms of ability or achieve-ment, and teach whole class as one unit

Mastery learning or predetermined pupil contract schemes

Promotion of individual responsibility so that pupils work at their own level Negotiation of appropriate assignments

Assessment Norm-referenced i.e. compares one pupil with another in a rank order

Criterion-referenced i.e. compares pupil’s performance against a predetermined criterion or against a scale of grade-related criteria

Individual evaluation i.e. provides an individual description of process and products achieved May lead to a statement in which the learner evaluates his/her own achievements

Research and evaluation

Research is determined by universities, and evaluation by the inspectorate— both from outside the classroom

Policy-led research determined by government from outside the classroom External evaluation to determine whether prespecified goals have been achieved or not

Encouragement of teachers to evaluate their own classroom practices, and research their own solutions

Curriculum Renewal


Style of curriculum renewal

Top-down, with the two major agencies for change outside the classroom, i.e. the examination board which is largely dominated by university interests, and the inspectorate who produce reports and policy documents, and organize one-off annual in-service courses

Top-down, Research, Development and Diffusion form of curriculum renewal where the agent for change is outside the classroom, i.e. committees of ‘experts’ set up by government to develop new policies and curricular packages In accordance with certain guidelines

Bottom-up school-based curriculum renewal The agent for change is inside the classroom i.e. teachers who come together to renew their curriculum They may be assisted in this by a local advisory service

Form of innovation

New examination syllabuses, which are then embodied in new course materials published commercially

A new policy and/or curriculum package, usually In the form of a new course book or set of materials embodying a new syllabus. This Is handed down for schools to implement

Small scale attempts to improve different parts of the curriculum jigsaw in a never-ending process of renewal

Strategies for teacher development

The production of official syllabuses and guidelines for teachers to implement Annual in-service course at which good practices are spread

In-service courses designed to assist teachers to ‘adopt’ a new curriculum package, or to implement a new policy

In-service workshops at which teachers come together to analyze their own problems, search for and discuss possible solutions, and experiment with them in the classroom. Teacher development and curriculum renewal become one and the same thing

The Foreign Language Curriculum


Broad aims of school language teaching/ learning

To promote general intellectual capacities such as memorization, analysis, classification, synthesis, and judgment

To promote social, intra-national and international unity and tolerance, through enabling pupils to communicate with other speech communities

To promote individual development, and enable pupils to create wider networks of personal relationships To learn how to learn, and how to learn a language

Languages likely to be provided

Languages with cultural prestige Languages of importance to the communities within a country, and languages of significance to the political and economic concerns of the country

Languages which reflect the personal aspirations and interests of the learners

Syllabus content (Selection)

Derived from an analysis of the structure of the language —phonological, grammatical and vocabulary elements, plus literary texts of value Predetermined in advance of the course

Derived from an analysis of the learners’ objective communicative needs Set out in terms of e.g. situations, themes, functions and notions, grammar, and vocabulary, often in a framework of the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Predetermined in advance of the course

A series of activities and tasks of a realistic communicative nature, selected through negotiation with learners A bank of possible activities may be set out in advance of the course but much is determined as the course progresses

Syllabus content (Grading)

Linear progress through structures sequenced from what is thought to be simple to what is thought to be more complexOrder determined in advance of the course Gradus ad Parnassum, with little or no planned surrender value along the path for those who opt out linear, cumulative approach to learningLinear progress through

situations and appropriate language exponents The most useful and generalizable first, and/or the most learnable first Order determined in advance of the course Surrender value at all steps along, the path in terms of what the learner can do with what has been learnt Linear, cumulative approach to learning

Some activities and tasks may be graded in advance on the basis of prior experience in using themLearner is in control of the order in which the knowledge items are learnt on the basis of what can be internalized Gradualist cyclical approach to learning, reintroducing elements in different contexts



Methodological emphasis

Raising conscious understanding of the underlying generalizable rules of sentence formation Deliberate practice and control of language elements

Forming good habits through practice and rehearsal of real-life situations in role-play Errors to be avoided

Providing the conditions in which the mental processes for spontaneous learning are activated through engaging in communicative activity Transitional errors accepted as a normal and necessary part of learning (interlanguage)

Role of the teacher

Teacher as instructor, explainer, transmitter of knowledge predetermined in advance, and corrector of errors

Teacher as model native speaker to be copied, and as organizer and manager of learning experiences predetermined in advance

Teacher as facilitator of learning, and as negotiator of lesson content and process Teacher as responder to learner needs, and as encourager of learner responsibility

Common classroom activities

Study and practice of grammar Learning of vocabulary Translation into and out of the language being learnt Study and evaluation of literary texts

Habit-forming drills Deliberate learning and practice of phrases of maximum use Rehearsal of target activities through role-play in the situations set out in the

Problem-solving activities in which learners are involved in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of their own meanings

Expected learning from students

Linear cumulative mastery of grammar and vocabulary and application of this knowledge to new contexts Accurate use of written language forms Some knowledge of the literature

Linear cumulative mastery of situationally appropriate language, leading to accurate, appropriate, and fluent use of language in predetermined situations

'interlanguage’ forms with errors, which tend to approximate more and more to native-speaker-like forms as the learner progresses Gradual increase in fluencyConfidence to tackle new communicative challenges



Purposes of assessment

To create rank order of merit among the pupils To select an elite for the next stage of education To place pupils into relatively homogeneous groups of high and low achievers

To determine what pupils can and cannot do, and how well they perform against pre determined criteria (summative assessment) To inform the teaching/ learning process (formative assessment)

To assist learners to reflect upon their own learning process and their products, and to learn how to learn To promote a capacity for self-evaluation

Content of assessment

Items involving the use of general intellectual capacities, usually covering grammar problems, and translation

Items sampling the predetermined goals and objectives of the syllabus. These usually cover structures and vocabulary, functions, notions, and situational activities, through the dimensions of listening, speaking, reading, and writing

Negotiated assignments in the form of process activities which have an end product

Modes of assessment

Summative end-of-term or end-of-year examinations

Formative diagnostic tests to measure how well unit objectives are being mastered Summative tests to assess more global goals

Students asked to reflect upon and describe the learning process experienced during an assignment Students asked to examine the end product with the teacher, and reflect upon how it might be improved

Result/report of assessment

A total aggregate markconverted into a grade for eachpupil on the basis of thenormal distribution curveA rank order of pupils

A profile for each pupil indicating the grade awarded for each dimension of the course (e.g. listening, speaking, reading, writing)

An individual statement for each pupil describing the process and product of his/her learning

Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

What procedures can be used to determine the content of a language program?

What are learners’ needs?

How can learners’ needs be determined?

What contextual factors need to be considered in planning a language program?

What is the nature of aims and objectives in teaching and how can these be developed?

What factors are involved in planning the syllabus and the units of organization in a course?

How can good teaching be provided in a program?

What issues are involved in selecting, adapting, and designing instructional materials?

How can one measure the effectiveness of a language program?

(Richard, 2001)

Methods in the Last 100 Years

Grammar translation (1800-1900)

Direct Method (1890-1930)

Reading Method (1920-1950)

Structural Method (1930-1960)

Audiolingual Method (1950-1970)

Situational Method (1950-1970)

Communicative Approach (1970-present)

Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (present)

(Revised from Richard, 2001)

Structural Method in the 1920s

1. Initial preparation

2. Habit forming

3. Accuracy

4. Gradation

5. Proportion

6. Concreteness

7. Interest

8. Order of progression—hearing before speaking and both before writing

9. Multiple line of approach

(Palmer, 1968)

Key Elements in Curriculum Development

1. Vocabulary

Teachability—concrete vocab

similarity—cognates

availability—topic related e.g. classroom items

coverage—words that include meaning of multiple words e.g. seat

defining power—words that define other words e.g. container

(Richards, 2001)

1. Grammar

Simplicity and centrality

Frequency (prior to the computer-based corpus this was difficult to determine)

Learnability (Dulay and Burt—natural order of grammatical acquisition…nouns, verbs, adjectives, verb to be, etc.)

-- GradationLinguistic distance—construction similar in L1 and L2Intrinsic difficulty—simple structures firstCommunicative need—need-basedFrequency—varies from book-to-book, syllabus-to-syllabus

(Richards, 2001)

Key Elements in Curriculum Development

Type of Gradation

• Linear—items introduced one at a time; texts are written in this manner

• Cyclical—items reintroduced throughout lesson/syllabus; teacher needs to develop material

PARADIGMS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF METHODS

A. Language Centered/ Behaviorist Route

Grammar translation Audio-lingual approach

Direct method Structural-Situational approach

Notional-functional approach

B. Learning-Centered/ Humanistic Route

Total physical response Silent Way

Community language learning Suggestopedia

Communicative approach Natural approach

C. Cognitive-Centered/Rationalist Route

Problem-posing Phonics Whole language

Cooperative learning Cognitive code method

PARADIGMS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF METHODS

D. Content Area-Centered/ Academic Route

Sheltered English /SIOP Dual language instruction

Language skill transfer Content-based language instruction

CALLA (cognitive academic language learning approach)

E. Skill-Centered/ Integrated Route

Aural/oral Reading/writing

Structure/vocabulary

Integrated approach

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